ReelPlay.com plays to film buyers and sellers

Site creators believe 'this is the future'

Going up against a service launched by FilmFinders and ShowBizData.com last month, ReelPlay.com has hit the Internet, enabling film buyers and sellers to catch up on the latest projects being marketed.

Just in time for the London Screenings and Mifed markets, the Web site lets users access trailers, electronic press kits, synopses, credits, one sheets and stills of pics for sale.

Existing company Web sites can also be linked.

The free service will operate a portfolio of online vertical trade communities offering searchable databases for trailers and reels upon demand, customized buyer profiles and seller home pages, as well as job listings and e-commerce features.

Co-prexies Stephen Liu and Dennis Young, who led the team that developed DirecTV in Japan, launched ReelPlay.com, targeting 3,000 international buyers as its initial core audience.

ReelPlay.com has already inked more than 50 foreign sales organizations to set up shop on the site.

Buyers can register with the service for free, while competitors charge a membership fee.

“This is the future now for the buying, selling and marketing for motion pictures,” said Liu, formerly director of Futurethink, a consulting firm. “We are a team of film professionals, technology experts, creative people and business types dedicated to creating the ultimate destination for the business of film, television, interactive games, talent and all things visual.”

In addition to the co-presidents, other members of the site’s management team include chairman Mark Litwak, a vet entertainment and multimedia attorney, and David Blake, an international film distribution executive, who helped develop Philips’ Screendisc.

Among its board of advisers are Carl Bressler, founder and prexy of Montana Artists; Christine La Valle, veep at Pittard Sullivan; Stuart Volkow, a new-media expert affiliated with iXL and Phoenix Pictures; and J. Todd Harris, prexy of Davis Entertainment Classics and a partner in Daly-Harris Prods.